Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm features in the list of companies picked for Bhubaneshwar City Wi-Fi Proof of Concept (PoC) project. Other companies that will be providing Wi-Fi services at public places are Bharti Infratel, Vodafone, Airtel, Orange Softech, and Ortel.
Bhubaneshwar PoC
The PoC will lay an emphasis on varied parameters. Some of these are reliability, compatibility, technology, user-friendliness, robustness, cost effectiveness, security compliance, timeliness, response from the customer, optimization of the infrastructure, legal interception and aligning with Bhubaneswar’s expectations. The PoC period will be of four weeks.
The telecom companies will design, create, construct, provide and manage Wi-Fi services. Each company will operate at one of the given locations. The chosen locations are Utkal university campus and Sahid Nagar; Bhubaneswar Railway Station, Master Canteen and Ashok Nagar; Market building, Secretariat and IG Park; Khandagiri, Jagamara and ITER; BijuPatnaik College Road, Pal Heights and May Fair; Nandan Kannan and Botanical Garden; Surya Nagar, Governor house and OUAT; Forest Park Area, Biju Pattnaik Park and Airport; Lingraj Temple area; KIIT University, Infocity and Damana.
The companies will themselves invest to provide high-speed wireless data connection with a speed of at least 512 Kbps. After the consumers will take an experience and give feedback, the response will be used to come up with Request for Proposal (RFP) for Bhubaneswar City Wi-Fi.
Director of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Bhubaneswar, Manas Ranjan Panda, informed that the telecom companies have been given different zones of Bhubaneswar Municipal Area. They will run Wi-Fi PoC in their zones. From 15th July, the PoC will begin and people will enjoy the services for a month. He further informed that the Bhubaneswar Wi-Fi project will be built as a sustainable business model.
The Odisha government has selected STPI for Bhubaneswar City Wi-Fi project. The company is the nodal agency for City Wi-Fi project.
Reliance Jio’s telecom venture
Reliance Jio will roll-out its high-speed data services by December 2015. It has been over five years that the company re-ventured into the telecom industry.The company has already rolled out its instant messaging app, Jio Chat. It will soon launch applications in the education and healthcare sectors, too. Besides, it has also got a provisional license for channel broadcasting service.
Reliance Jio has marked its presence in all the states of the country, covering 18,000 cities and towns. It is planning to cover around 80% of Indian population by December 2015. Experts predict that Reliance Jio’s launch will affect the entire telecom industry in India.
Statements from Mr. Ambani
Mr. Ambani informed at the 41st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Reliance Industries that its telecom arm will provide data and voice services. It will charge less than 50% of the current rates. The company will provide varied services like instant messaging, digital payment platform, live TV, news, movies on demand, streaming music, etc.
He expressed, “I am confident that Jio will play a significant role in lifting India from its current 142nd rank on internet penetration to among the top 10 nations in the world.” He further expressed that Jio’s ventures will push Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s ‘Digital India’ initiative.
Summary
Reliance Jio is one of the six companies that will offer services under Bhubaneshwar’s Wi-Fi PoC Project.